New Delhi: Barely four weeks before the Lok Sabha polls begin, more than 20 opposition parties have moved the Supreme Court seeking verification of 50 per cent electronic voting machines (EVMs) results against voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) before the results are declared.

The matter has been listed for Friday before a Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi-led bench.

EVM issue

In its letter to the EC on 4 February, the opposition had urged the poll body that in a constituency where there is a “difference of votes cast in favour of the winning candidate and that cast in favour of second position securing candidate is less than 5 per cent of votes cast”, then “mandatory counting of paper trail from VVPAT should be carried out in each polling station of that constituency”.

In the eventuality of a discrepancy in the votes, then the results from the VVPAT must prevail, said the letter.

The opposition in its letter to the EC had also said that there were reports of a mismatch between votes polled and votes counted (as per the ECI records) in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana in the December 2018 assembly elections.

Since the formation of the Modi government in 2014, the opposition has time and again alleged that the EVMs have been rigged in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election is scheduled for 11 April. The counting of votes is set for 23 May.

1 COMMENT

Whether it should be 50% or somewhat lower is a matter of detail. However, one booth per Assembly constituency is not adequate. The VVPAT facility has been acquired at high cost. Good use should be made of it. Time to lay to rest this fear of EVMs being tampered with.